Feb. 7--Monthly electric bills won't go down in June, but they won't go up much either.

Depending on where they live, residents in Monmouth and Ocean counties will see either an increase of a fraction of a percentage point or no change in their monthly electric bill as of June 1.

On Friday, the state Board of Public Utilities approved the results of the state's annual electricity auction. It sets the wholesale electricity prices the state's electric utilities will pay and pass through to all New Jersey residential customers. It does not increase utility profits.

As of June 1, average ratepayers using 650 kilowatts a month will see their monthly bills increase from $119.09 to $119.19, up 10 cents, or 0.1 percent, for Jersey Central Power & Light customers; remain unchanged at $109.70 for Atlantic City Electric customers; and rise from $118.54 to $119.21, up 67 cents, or 0.6 percent, for Public Service Electric & Gas customers.

The state's eighth annual electricity auction was held Monday through Wednesday. Another auction to supply large commercial and industrial customers ran from Jan. 30 to Wednesday.

The prices, which cover one-third of the state's annual electricity supply, were 6 to 10 percent lower than last year's as a result of a decrease in the cost of fuel used to generate electricity.

Last year's auction caused bills to spike 10.5 percent to 12.1 percent last June as oil prices rose. Oil prices tend to drive the cost of other fuels used to generate power.

But the recent drop in commodity prices was offset in part by an increase in the cost of credit as a result of recent turmoil in the credit markets. Suppliers need credit to protect themselves against volatile prices in the energy markets, said Craig Roach, president of Boston Pacific Co., the board's consultant.

BPU President Jeanne M. Fox said the state's electricity prices are in line with other surrounding states, including Pennsylvania and Delaware. The state's auction process is meant to protect ratepayers from volatile prices, she said.

"So far it has been a successful process for ratepayers," Fox said.

State Rate Counsel Director Stefanie A. Brand said she was "very relieved" the auction didn't produce last year's price increases.

Another round of increases would have been "devastating," she said.

"I was hoping for prices to actually reflect some of the drops in commodity prices that we have seen," Brand said. "It could have been worse, could have been better."

A total of 17 companies were registered to bid in the auction with 10 winning contracts to supply residential customers and five winning contracts for large commercial and industrial customers.

The BPU said the auctions, valued at approximately $7 billion, were competitive given the number of bidders. The winners for the residential piece were: Conective Energy Supply, Consolidated Edison Energy, Exelon Generation Co., FPL Energy Power Marketing, Hess Corp., J.P. Morgan Ventures Energy Corp., Morgan Stanley Capital Group Inc., PPL Energy Plus, PSEG Energy Resources & Trade LLC., and Sempra Energy Trading LLC.

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